Banks look to hike home loan rates

The three biggest banks in the country plan to raise their housing loan rates June 1 for the second straight month on the back of recent rises in long-term interest rates, their officials said Thursday.

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Mizuho Bank, which raised their fixed-rate 10-year mortgages to 1.4 percent in May, are mulling hiking the rates to as high as 1.6 percent next month.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond has been on the rise, reaching 1 percent earlier this month for the first time since April 2012, due to market confusion caused by the Bank of Japan’s aggressive monetary easing steps, including massive bond-buying operations.